Divers Reach The Bottom Of The ‘Great Blue Hole’ – What They Discovered Is Disturbing

Recently, a team of explorers set out to see if they could find what was lurking in the depths of this untouched ocean formation. 

Diving into the deep requires a certain level of experience as it is a very risky endeavor. While very few divers have the experience and capability to dive into a place like ‘The Great Blue Hole,’ the Cousteau family was more than capable. 

Fabien Cousteau’s grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, was one of the great pioneers of diving and helped create what has now become modern scuba gear that divers all around the world use to this day. Jacques was no stranger to the murky depths of the ocean and had explored it on numerous occasions. 

The Belize Barrier Reef lies east off the Belize coast. It is one of the largest portions of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. The reef starts in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and meets its end on the south side of Honduras. 

This hole lies on the eastern end of the Belize Barrier Reef, in a small portion of the larger reef known as Lighthouse Reef. As a marvel of the natural world, it has become near irresistible for scuba enthusiasts. 

It formed at the end of the last Ice Age when numerous large caverns were flooded by rising sea waters. All of which resulted in the amazing fissure the world gets to admire today. 

The Hole, which is nestled within Lighthouse Reef, is also a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. This makes it a protected location of great importance for Belize and the whole world at large. 

Besides its staggering depths, another reason adventurous divers hope to visit the location is because of its biodiversity. The Hole is home to different types of marine life, such as nurse sharks, hammerheads, reef sharks, and bull sharks.

However, it is one of the trickiest spots for divers to navigate, and exploring its depths requires having completed at least 24 previous dives in different locations. 

However, most of what ‘The Great Blue Hole’ holds in the depths is completely unknown, as most of it has remained unexplored. The secrets it keeps we can only imagine, which is why these divers wanted so badly to explore it.

Jacques said that after exploring ‘The Great Blue Hole,’ he was confident that it was one of the top five diving spots on Earth. With less sophisticated equipment available in the 1970s, Jacques could only get a small peek at the world beneath the surface.

Branson is the owner of Virgin Group and the subsequent Virgin Oceanic, which has a fleet of high-end submersible vehicles. Branson, who is very passionate about ocean exploration, was keen to join Cousteau in his Caribbean adventure. 

They invited Erika Bergman, a renowned oceanographer, to be the third explorer on their team. She would also be the one to pilot their submarine, Aquatica. 

In many ways, this trip for Branson was about promoting ecological sustainability and educating the public on the needs of our oceans. 

Branson sees a great deal of importance in our oceans and wants to make them more accessible to others. His summit on global warming at his private British Virgin Islands residence was a major success. 

This Blue Hole was far from the largest or deepest in the ocean, its unique geological composition and shape have long made it impossible to penetrate to the absolute depths. Branson referred to it as a “ planetary inner space” mission. 

At this point, preparations for this historical trip were complete, and they were ready to get the cameras rolling. 

Branson, Cousteau, and Bergman knew they would be diving into much shallower waters, meaning they could take advantage of a more spacious viewing dome. 

However, soon enough, the sediment dissipated Into the depths and uncovered an outstanding geological formation — a large series of caves with hanging stalactites. This initial discovery was not at all what the crew expected to find. 

Sir Richard Branson noted that this discovery was a “ stark reminder of the dangers of climate change.” In fact, these stalactites were never formed underwater. 

Now around 200 ft beneath the surface of the ocean, the colors of these rock formations had greatly shifted, denoting where sea levels lay previously. These cave systems were likely once home to many land creatures. 

Many years before, a team of researchers from Louisiana State University and Rice University dove into this ocean marvel, collecting geological samples from its sheer walls at varying depths. However, this team had a different goal in mind. 

This team wanted to know if their discoveries could help them understand what happened to the Mayans. 

One mystery the historians have yet to find an answer to was the seemingly mass abandonment of the many cities throughout the Mayan Kingdom, which led to the collapse of the culture. Did ‘The Great Blue Hole’ hold the answers they were looking for? 

This cloud of hydrogen sulfide, which was 20 feet thick, had the ability to suffocate any marine life in its grasp and corrode the metal on there submersible. The team found several remains of invertebrates that had been trapped and killed in the noxious water 

However, the Aquatica crew had prepared for this layer using a vessel equipped to survive the harmful environment. Thankfully, they were able to continue their descent. 

Fabien was excited he would be able to continue his grandfather’s work, mapping the lowest reaches of this geological anomaly. The team hopes that they could return to the surface with some scientifically important discoveries. 

From a bird’s eye view, the Blue Hole looks like a pristine ocean wonder, untouched by man. However, as they continued diving deeper, the reality of the pit was uncovered. 

As with many other parts of the ocean, ‘The Great Blue Hole’ had become a landfill for human waste.The team was in absolute disgust and shocked to find out that such a seemingly pristine natural wonder had been turned into a garbage pile.

It is clearer than ever that there is no better time to make changes than right now. Several influential figures have decided to work together, fighting the great threat of plastic pollution alongside Branson.